UMvC3: Newbie, any glaring holes?

Newbie Saikyo Dojo
#1

First off, hello. I don’t think I’ve posted anything major on SRK before. I was just lurking around.

Anyways, I have played video games for a while, but just started FGs when I picked up Vanilla SF4 for some ridiculous dirt-cheap price last Christmas. Since then, I’ve upgraded to Super (not AE2012, but I will soon) and hopped on board MvC3 on launch day… SF I play pretty much for laughs right now (Gouken represent!). Very quickly, I learned regular video game skill has 0 translation to fighting games. So I turn to some pros for help. The main game I focus on is UMvC3 but, as is everyone when they first start fighting games, I am ass. I was just wondering what sorta pointers the community has, mainly on the following few* things:

-My team, as of this point, is Vergil, Doc Strange, and Magneto. I’m working on kill combos, but is there anything I should know about this team? Any order suggestions? Any glaring weaknesses?

-I’m trying to learn online, since Training Mode seems incomplete as a training tool and the Arcade Bots are pants-on-head stupid, but I just get crushed. I jump into Ranked, and I get crushed. I go on SRK, learn some humility, go to Player Match, and…still get crushed. I currently mostly play with my friend who is equally newbish, but we’ve both just learned what each other does. Should I keep up the one vs. ones, should I seek out new training partners, or should I continue bashing by head against the online brick wall?

-I am aware that playing stick doesn’t grant you the God Fingers of Thor and makes you crush all foes in a wave of salt and destruction, but I play pad right now (which even then is a misnomer. I use the little 360 joystick on the controller). I notice some things seem to be not optimized for trailers (You know what’s a pain? Trying to press Y and A on an Xbox controller at the same time without mashing them all and wasting XF because I want a bit of stupid evidence so PW can become less ass). Is stick the optimal way to play? Or does my 4+ years of controller experience lend itself to playing pad? Am I a complete idiot for using the little controller stick thing?

*Yeah, it’s not a few. Whatever

#2

The most obvious weakness is that your characters all have low health, so if you make one mistake that means that one of your characters is most likely dead. The second thing that is apparent is that your team is pretty execution heavy, particularly M.D Strange and Mags (Vergil as well but not as much). However, neither of these things make your team a “weak” team. Low health, as I said before, simply means you have less room for error. The execution requirement means that you may not be able to maximize your damage right away and may have to use less than optimal combos, but this gets remedied over time as you play more and increase your execution.

As a new player, your focus shouldn’t be on long/stylish combos, but on learning how to move with your characters and what is safe where and when. What I suggest is to work on a couple of BnB’s for your team that have a comfortable execution requirement and then go online/play with your friend. During your matches, most of your focus should be on how to move with your characters, getting a feel for when its safe to call assists, and how to open people up. Execution is worth jack shit if you can’t land a single hit on your opponent. Also, remember to have fun, don’t get too caught up with your loses. After all, even Neo fell the first time (yeah, matrix reference, deal haha :P). Experience against many players and styles >>>> experience against only one player/style.

As for pad vs. stick. Its mostly preference. If you try a stick and like it, go for it. If not, playing on a pad doesn’t make an inferior player.

Note: I am currently making a transition from playing SSF4 to Marvel myself, and have been trying to adjust to the mechanics of Marvel. I am actually not very good at Marvel yet, but this is the general “philosophy” that I am following in order to get better. If you’re on XBL, I’d be more than down for some casuals. Just send a friend request or invite. GT: Aervid. If you see that I am playing MW3 that is most likely my brother haha, but if I am on SSF4 or MvC 3 its me. I might be on later tonight, but I have an essay to write so most likely not haha (yay for procrastination!). I will be on tomorrow night for sure though if you want to play.

#3

Both Strange and Magneto are very difficult characters for beginners, Strange is difficult to use even for experienced players. If you are having a hard time winning you might want to drop them and pick up someone easier to use.

#4

Alright, I’m not gonna quote because I’m on my iPod and it’s annoying.

Now that you mention it, I suppose all of my team does weigh in at 850,000, doesn’t it? Leaving that aside for a moment, noting the execution, Maggie is one in a long, long series of trying to find a third. My original team in OMvC3 was Wolvie/Sent/Haggar (don’t let anyone say I’m afraid of top tier), but, other than Haggar, none of that team really strikes me with that X-Factor (pun incredibly intended) that I got with Vergil and Dr. House. The few candidates for that third spot I have at this point are Mags (duh), Haggar (who I like, but gets locked down so fast), Frank (speaking of execution…), and, despite everyone ever, Phoenix Wright.

As for practice, I’m still playing online, I just still haven’t gotten over the fact that I’m getting as trashed as I should be at this point. I have played a lot with one guy, but I don’t feel like that’s growth. I’ll look up some BnBs, and keep on truckin’.

As for stick, I may get one with my X-mas cash, although I may also just buy a bunch of games, so there’s that.

As it so happens, I am on XBL. My GT is AsylumRunner8. I’ll be on Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays due to school (I, ironically, also procrastinated a big essay. Stupid George Orwell.) However, it’s worth noting I’ll be playing a crapton of games over my Winter Break which starts next week, and I might also get MK9 for Christmas), so we can play then. I’m looking forward to having someone to play some casuals with, and also a community to talk about fighting games with. I don’t have the luxury of being in NorCal :frowning:

#5

I really like Frank backed up by rapid slash and eye of agamotto haha. His execution combo-wise shouldn’t be anymore than Vergil’s in my opinion, but moving around with Frank and using his normals is pretty hard under lvl 3 (lvl 1 Frank vs Wesker/Dante/Vergil/any teleporter is agonizing :(). You should definitely experiment though. I used to think Nova as just ‘meh’, but after using him I really liked his game play and is one of my favorite characters in UMvC 3.

My winter break also starts next week. We should definitely get some games in then, but I’ll mostly be playing later during the nights since my brother usually likes to play during the day.